While the first SHAFT was a more subtle film this goes bigger. Nothing represents that symbolic leap more than the fact that Shaft carries a shotgun as his main weapon compared to the revolver he carried in the first film. The film ends with a car chase, boat chase, and a shootout at the docks. That was a most satisfying payoff. The action far exceeds anything from the from the first film. What doesn't work as well however is the private eye mystery element and snappy dialogue that Shaft had in the first film. In this film it feels like trouble finds him, while in the first one it felt like found trouble through the investigation. There are moments of great dialogue but not nearly as many great lines compared to the first one.
Synopsis: When Shaft finds out that a dead friend ran a numbers racket out of his legitimate business and left $250,000 unaccounted for, he knows why he has suddenly found himself in the middle of a war between rival thugs. These goons are all trying to take over the territory of the dead man as well as get their hands on the missing 250 grand. Shaft has all he can handle trying to track down the money and, at the same time, keep his friend's sister from the clutches of the hoods.
The film starts with someone emptying a safe. That person in turn calls Shaft. As Shaft arrives to meet him the building blows up. The man in question was Cal Asby, an insurance salesman and mortician. Shaft is questioned by Captain Bollin (Julius Harris) but cannot be held due to lack of evidence. The plot in this is convoluted because there are a lot of sides to it. Kelly (Wally Taylor) was in business with Asby and they were running a racket with their funeral parlor and insurance company. Kelly owes $250,000 to mafioso, Gus Mascola (Joseph Mascolo). Later it is revealed that Kelly had wanted to steal that money from Asby's safe and blew him up thinking the money would still be there. Many different sides get involved, including "Bumpy" Jonas (Moses Gunn) and his bodyguard Willy (Drew Bundini Brown) from the first movie.
Shaft eventually figures out that Asby was a good citizen wanting to use his money for philanthropy. He had planned to buy out Kelly. Kelly got greedy and wanted to use that money to pay his debts and killed Asby to take over the numbers racket. There are many different double crosses along the way. Kelly goes to Mascola and they agree on a 50-50 split. Kelly then later goes to Jonas and offers him a stake in the racket in Queens and a 60-40 partnership. Kelly also asked Mascola to kill Shaft. Mascola sends two men after Shaft, and Shaft kills them both. Shaft later goes to a club and is beaten up by three men who tell him to deliver a message to Bumpy to stay in Harlem. This is only after Kelly lies to Mascola about Shaft being sent there by Bumpy. So Kelly is a really sleazy character and will do anything to save himself.
There are many things I enjoyed about this movie. Shaft's cool lines aren't in supply as much as the first one. We first see him sleeping with Asby's sister Arna, as Asby calls him. He asks Shaft to protect his sister and he says "I can get a hand on her," as he literally puts his hand on her ass. Later he goes to Kelly's place and encounters his beautiful girlfriend, Rita (Kathy Imrie). They have fun banter that eventually leads to a sex scene where the scene is shot through the distorted glass of a vanity mirror. Like the first film Gordon Parks shows a penchant for filmmaking with the different crossfades between the vanity mirror and back to Shaft and Rita. While Isaac Hayes still did the opening song, the score is less soul than the first one. Parks did the music himself and it is much more traditionally orchestral. There is some fun buddy-cop type of humor when Shaft and Willy have to team up and they go to Mascola's place. Willy just stands there watching Shaft and Mascola fight while Shaft asks Willy for help.
Left to Right: Kathy Imrie (Rita) Richard Roundtree (Shaft) and Rosalind Miles (Arna)
SPOILER SECTION
All sides converge on each other at a cemetery. Kelly finds the money buried there. He gets it, but Mascola shows up and kills him. Shaft meanwhile shows up just behind them and takes the money and Mascola hostage. A long chase ensues, first with cars, then to a speedboat and then on land. Shaft manages to take out all of Mascola's men. He shoots down the helicopter and shoots the other men on the ground near some shipping docks. Once again Parks shows his craftsmanship with the wide shots of the stairs leading to a crane where Shaft is being chased by one of the men. Shaft refuses to tell the police where the money is and says he will be donating it to a child care organization, something Asby had intended to do with it.
While the subtleties of the first Shaft are not in this, the movie succeeds as a sequel. Much more action, a bigger scope, more blood squibs, and still some fun lines that make Richard Roundtree so awesome as Shaft. The final chase sequence rivals any chase sequence in the era where many movies always had one. It was fun seeing some more staple Blaxploitation actors like Julius Harris.
Rating: 8/10
Trivia: Director Gordon Parks has a cameo as a croupier in the back of the gambling room at Mother Ike's.
Gun of the Movie: Shaft's shotgun the High Standard Model 10 (HS-10)
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